I’m both the best and the worst person to be writing a post on when to go cheap and when to spend money on a more high-end piece when buying furniture. Worst because in the 18 years that I’ve been a homeowner, I’ve made more mistakes spending money on the wrong things for my home than I care to admit. Just ask my husband (umm…on second thought, let’s keep this issue buried…). But I’m also the best person because I’ve learned a ton from my past mistakes and (knock on wood) haven’t made any of those big mistake purchases in many years.
Pretty much every single room in our house is a mix of low end (thrifted pieces, IKEA, etc.) and higher-end (more expensive, often custom order) furniture and accessories. Our living room is a good example of this low-high mix (see full resource list at end of post for sources):
I’m a big believer in buying quality, high-end pieces as you can, even if it’s only one piece every couple of years. The cost of continually replacing low-cost furniture that’s poorly made can quickly add up to the cost of one high quality piece that you may have for a lifetime. If you’re thinking about buying a higher-end piece of furniture but are unsure whether or not you should, I’m sharing five deciding factors to help you make the call:
1. Be Sure You Can Easily Afford It
This one’s a no-brainer but also super important. It’s easy to get wrapped up in finding the most beautiful piece of furniture you’ve ever seen without giving yourself a reality check on whether you can easily afford it. Because as much as you and I love furniture and design, I think we can agree that there are more important things in life – if buying an expensive piece of furniture comes at the expense of a family vacation or the stress of neverending interest from a balance on a high interest credit card, simply don’t do it. Save your money for a few more years and buy it when it’s not going to be a stress on your household budget – you’ll enjoy that furniture piece all the more when you can buy it with 100% excitement and no stress or lifestyle compromises.
It was for this very reason that we have an IKEA sofa in our living room instead of the more high-end sofa that I was lusting over. We had just moved into our house and were sofa-less so we wanted a new one fairly quickly but as those of you who have moved several states away know, you pretty much bleed money for the first several months after moving. Dropping $1,000+ on a new sofa was going to be a stress on our budget and we were under enough stress with the move as it was so it was IKEA to the rescue! And guess what? We love our IKEA couch – it’s been a great purchase!
2. You Have to Love, Love, Love It!
You can’t just like it a lot or kinda love it – if you’re shelling out some good money for a higher-end furniture piece, you have to be 100% in complete and utter love with it. It’s so tempting to settle for something that you like a lot but isn’t exactly what you want when you’re sick of shopping around and just want to be done furnishing a room. Don’t do it – be patient and wait – most of the best rooms are ones where the pieces were collected over time instead of bought all at once anyway. You’ll eventually find that “forever” piece that you always wanted.
When I was on the hunt for a pair of chairs for the living room in our old house, it took forever. Like seriously forever. At many times I just wanted to throw in the towel and buy the best chairs I’d seen even though I wasn’t totally in love with them. My husband was the one who kept saying we should keep looking. I’m so glad we did because eventually we stumbled upon these slipcovered swivel chairs that both of us fell in love with (and still love six years later!):
3. Consider Resale Value If It’s Something That Will Stay With Your Home
If you plan on staying in your home for the next 25+ years, then this issue isn’t a big concern for you but if, like us, there’s a good chance you’ll be moving in the next 5-10 years, consider what making that high-end purchase will do to your home’s resale value. If your purchase is something that will either increase your home’s resale value or at least make your home more appealing to potential buyers so that it might sell faster, then great – go for it! If the purchase is something you love but is really taste-specific and 90% of other people won’t really care for it, skip it.
Our fireplace tile is a good example of a higher-end item that will obviously stay with our house when the day comes for us to move. When I was searching for new tile for our fireplace, I fell hard for this stunning tile from Walker Zanger’s Sterling Row collection the moment that I saw it:
Our old fireplace had cracked, dated tile (you can see the “before” {here}) and while I could have found a decent inexpensive tile to replace it with, there’s no way that it would the same impact as using this stunning luxury tile.
It completely transformed the look and feel of our living room (and honestly, our whole house since this is the room that you first see when you walk in) and literally every single person who’s visited our house since we remodeled the fireplace remarks on how much they love the tile within 30 seconds of stepping foot inside. I know that when the time comes for us to move, our choice to use this higher-end tile will have been a smart one.
4. Make Sure You’ll Love It For Years
If you find yourself falling in love with an expensive couch in a funky, very trendy upholstered fabric, it’s probably not a smart buy. I know people often say that they’ll just have something reupholstered if they get sick of it but have you ever gotten a quote for reupholstering? It can be about as much as buying a whole new piece of furniture. Instead, invest in a less trendy piece that you see yourself loving for years to come and just get some pillows made in that funky, trendy fabric that you love.
Every single one of our higher end purchases (excluding those mistake purchases 10+ years ago!) have a classic, timeless design with this tall china cabinet in our family room being one of my favorites. We bought it several years back and it’s something I can’t imagine ever falling out of love with or worrying about it going out of style:
5. Be Comfortable With The Return Policy If It’s Custom
Often when you custom order a piece of furniture, you might have seen a swatch of the fabric or a sample of the wood finish but haven’t ever seen the exact piece that you’re ordering in person. Speak with the person/store that you’re ordering from to find out the return policy if it arrives and you don’t like it. Often custom pieces can’t be returned so you need to be comfortable with that and 100% sure you’ll be happy with it.
I got burned once many years ago ordering a custom piece that I disliked but couldn’t return so when I custom ordered our leather living room ottoman, I was adamant about only ordering it if I could return it back to the store if I didn’t like it. Thankfully they agreed because when the ottoman came, the leather was a very different shade than the sample I had been shown. They accepted the return at their store and we reordered the ottoman in a different color leather that ended up being exactly what I was looking for. It would have made me sick to have paid a good amount of money for a new leather ottoman and have not been happy with it.
That pretty much sums up the mix of deciding factors that swirl around my brain when I’m deciding whether to go high or low. And whether you buy high or low, here are a few more tidbits of advice on buying home furnishings in general:
- Never pay full price. Seriously! There isn’t a single piece of furniture in my entire house that I paid full price for (other than HomeGoods finds). Everything goes on sale eventually!
- Don’t impulse buy. There will always be another sale so if you’re not 100% sure on buying something don’t get pressured into it by a great sale.
- Go cheap on things you like to change up. For me, that’s art and accessories – I love to change them around seasonally and when the mood strikes me. Inexpensive at-home art printables are great because I can change up my art for only about $5 and zero guilt!
So what about you guys – do you have any tips or advice from your own furniture buying experience to share? Comment away!
Paint color: Modified version of Sherwin Williams Keystone Gray – find the exact formula at the bottom of {this post} | sofa – IKEA EKTORP – more info {here} | linen swivel chairs & ottoman – mine are from Lee Industries but {these} are very similar | woven tray on ottoman – Pottery Barn (no longer available) | fireplace tile – Sterling Row Wingtip Charcoal | firewood basket | rattan bar cart – mine was a Craigslist find but you can find it {here} | side table – mine was a HomeGoods find but you can also find it {here} | art prints – Etsy. | |round mirror (similar) | china cabinet – Thomasville (no longer available) | Plaid throw – no longer available
Shelley @ Calypso in the Country says
Every time I see that fireplace, I love it even more! Great tips on high and low purchases. I have a mixture in my home as well. I tend to spend less on the small and trendier pieces tool. I can only justify spending more on the longer term items. I remember when we bought our bed, and my husband was like, why can’t we just buy another one from the bed store?…um, no. I was determined to win that battle no matter how long it took. Luckily Ethan Allen was having a sale around that time and I went for it. Not one regret!
Shelley
Kris Jarrett says
Ha! I love that story Shelley – we are SO in need of a new bed and I think I’ll be facing the same battle 🙂
Judy H. says
Love your Etsy art prints!
Kris Jarrett says
Thanks Judy!
Kristin Cotner says
Kris,
I am remodeling an older home and I LOVE your style. I want to mix gray and beige and you appear to do it BEAUTIFULLY. I am hoping to paint the walls in our home a gray and I am hoping to use your mix from Sherwin Williams (but I have to be sure it will match our kitchen floors (which have a beige-ish hue) first. My question is this… how do I safely mix beige and gray without it looking garish? I am TERRIBLE with color matching!! Because of budget issues we are going to have to re-carpet the house…. yuck! There are a million shades of beige carpet! HELP!! Is there a shade/brand of carpet you recommend to use as a base that I can try to match gray paint with? I’m so overwhelmed. I can’t afford a decorator or I’d get one, trust me. Hoping you have some words of wisdom. Thanks for any of your time/advice. LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog!!! Have already used TONS of your ideas. You are so talented and such a blessing to a design-challenged girl like me.
Kristin
Kris Jarrett says
Hi Kristin! Carpet is so, so hard – there are a zillion choices, right? Honestly, my best advice is to simply get lots of samples that you can view in your home – they will look so different in your home versus what they look like in the store. Many carpet stores either allow you to check samples out or there are some places that come to your house with all of their samples. Unfortunately I don’t have a specific brand or color to recommend as I haven’t bought carpet in years! Good luck!
Lisa @ Shine Your Light says
These are such great tips Kris. High-low is the way to go! I have invested in upholstered pieces with very bold fabric and years later, had such regret, so sticking with neutrals for the expensive and large scale items is a good idea unless someone has a budget that allows them to completely redecorate every 5 years! Your fireplace is so stunning!
Marty Oravetz says
Great post and super advice.
Marley says
Such great tips! My home is a mix of high/low as well. We have two IKEA Ektorp white slipcovered chairs in our living room and they are the most comfortable chairs in my home! 😉 We have moved a few times as well and I grapple with what spaces to invest in ALL THE TIME!!! I NEVER thought we would be in our current home as long as we have, but the changes we made were all good for resale whenever we move! (Hopefully sooner than later;) Have a great weekend! 🙂
Kris Jarrett says
When you move a lot it’s a whole new ballgame in deciding what to spend money on in your home, right?! I’m a huge EKTORP fan too – best bang for the buck around!
Garden, Home and Party says
Kris,
This is a great post. I agree 100% with all of your points, especially the impulse buy. Most of my earlier errors in buying were because I thought the item was wonderful and the sale was going to end…etc.
You’re living room is lovely and very livable, something I feel is essential in good design. 🙂
Karen
Kris Jarrett says
I’ve gotten burned on my fair share of impulse buys too! Enjoy your weekend Karen!
classic•casual•home says
Great advice… especially about the impulse thing… definitely sleep on it for a week or two… 🙂
Darling photo of your two precious ones on the sofa. Should frame it.
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you Mary Ann – I should make a whole photo album of those two – they’re the best of buddies! 🙂
JoAZ says
Hi- thought you would find the post at coco+Kelley from a day ago interesting of William McLure’s living room. He has a “tortoise” placed under his coffee table and a tortoise shell leaning against the fireplace. It’s a really interesting room. I love what he did with the couch especially for those of us with pups.
Loved this post. We have a very large leather ottoman from Ethan Allen that is way to big – the sales person/designer was there long enough to collect her commission and then was gone. It was my fault for letting the professional talk me into a size I knew was too big. Shame on me.
Kris Jarrett says
Ha! Your story sounds so familiar – right after we got married a salesperson talked me into this sofa that was too big for our space – I was SO happy the day that thing started falling apart and I was able to get rid of it! And thanks for letting me know about that post – I checked it out and LOVE that room – such a cool space!
Susan says
I’m curious if you have any experience purchasing a bathroom vanity online?
Kris Jarrett says
The only vanity I’ve purchased online is actually one from Pottery Barn where it came with a marble top -it ended up being a great purchase! I haven’t bought just the cabinetry portion of a vanity separately online before.
Merryjo Agnel says
These are such great tips Kris on high and low purchases. Love your Etsy art prints!You’re living room is lovely.
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you!
Laura Ingalls Gunn says
Kris this post was filled to the brim with great advice. I adore your little sweetheart on the exact same couch that I also own and love.
I wanted to invite you to our linky party, Thoughts of Home on Thursday. I would love for you to share your spring tour and even this wonderful post. We offer a chance at a giveaway every week for each participant who links up. This week is a subscription to Southern Living. I hope you join in on our gathering.
Happy Easter to you and yours!
Kris Jarrett says
Thank you Laura! I’m so bad about linking up to link parties – I haven’t done it in ages but will try to remember to do yours sometime this month! Happy Easter!
Julian T says
This was a really great post! I’m currently in the process of moving into a new apartment and have been creating different bedroom and living room design ideas.
Jill says
I Love that beautiful china cabinet! It looks like a versatile piece too; for the living room, even for a large bathroom. The conundrum I have is with your second suggestion; Love love loving it? Most of the time I have to compromise with what my husband likes and we both decide on something we can accept. Unfortunately this has led to a few pieces I wouldn’t mind getting rid of!
Miss Robyn says
Best tip I learned over the years… WHY. ??? buy new wood??? . beautiful dressers and coffee tables , kitchen farmhouse table and chairs, bookcase…etc (Ethan Allen and vintage German made) at thrift stores and garage sales. Wipe them down-shine them up or paint them. All for a tiny fraction of what they originally cost.
Kris Jarrett says
Yes, you can definitely get some beautiful wood pieces for a steal if you’re willing to put in a little elbow grease to pretty them up!
Sandy says
I love the Walker Zanger tile and am thinking to use it on my foyer floor but definitely love the idea of using it on the fireplace. Your tips are great and spot on. I do have expensive taste and love Henredon and Ethan Allen furniture. I have been fortunate to find deals on Craigslist, local consignment stores, and estate sales. I agree that it is best to collect over time. Refurbished heirloom pieces are great too.
Denise says
Couches are potatoes,sofa is what you have to sit on in your room.